LOCALLY GROWN, WITH LOVE

LOCALLY GROWN, WITH LOVE

GROWING FOOD,GROWING PEOPLE,GROWING COMMINITY

Vermillion Growers will be Manitoba’s first large scale greenhouse, initially growing tomatoes, but expanding to grow a range of year round produce to supply Manitoba and Western Canada. Building high quality greenhouses designed for the Prairies to benefit from the hot summers and efficiently protect from the cold winters. Run by three generations of farming women, who value the ability to grow local and to grow the community in Dauphin.

OUR TEAM

MARK KOHAN

Mark is a developer and well respected property owner in the town of Dauphin, Manitoba. Growing up in rural Manitoba he has learned the work ethic necessary to be successful in business as well as his personal life.

Having an education in Business Administration he used his knowledge to develop strategies for working with groups of investors in the development of subdivisions of land, condos and commercial properties. His comprehensive understanding of money and people management have allowed him to earn the trust and respect of bankers, investors and community members.

Over the past 15 years Mark has raised and managed over 35 Million dollars in funding making him an invaluable asset to any team. With a recent introduction to the commercial greenhouse world he has been invited to participate in the funding and financial management of the Vermillion Grower’s facility in Dauphin.

MARIA DESCHAUER

Maria has been involved with property development and management for over 20 years. She is currently the President of Wilisco Properties, a property development company that manages a 14 million dollar real estate portfolio. The majority of this portfolio consists of residential rental and is located in Dauphin, Morris and Altona MB.

International experiences have played a significant role in shaping Maria’s world paradigm. She spent several years living and working in Yamagata Japan, Barcelona Spain and London England. All these experiences have instilled a deep appreciation of the wealth and freedom available to all in Canada. It is this appreciation coupled with the desire to be actively contributing to Canada’s economic growth that has inspired Maria to be a part of the development team for Vermillion Growers

JOHN "LUCKY" DESCHAUER

John is an entrepreneur/philanthropist who has spent the past 35 years in construction and property development. Dauphin, Manitoba became his home in 2013 when he began building residential rental apartments to help ease the housing demand in the community. As a master carpenter, he has mentored apprentices until his retirement recently from construction to spend full time on his greatest passion, Commercial greenhouses.

Growing up in rural southern Manitoba he was exposed to varying types of agriculture, spending time as a young man working on farms for experience. At the age of 15 he began building experimental greenhouses with his father including a 20 foot high glass greenhouse to grow vegetables in the winter. Since that time growing and providing healthy high quality produce for family and friends has been a burning ember in his soul. With recent improvements to hi tech greenhouses his passion has soared and now has committed all his time and resources to bringing the best team of greenhouse builders and growers together.

Tera Johnson

As the junior grower and crop scout at Vermillion Growers, Tera ensures the plants are getting what they need in order to produce the best yield and to ensure that the integrated pest management program is efficient. As she says, she takes care of the plants and bugs in the facility.

Agriculture has always been her passion. She grew up on a beef cattle farm in Chatfield, MB, with 400 head of cattle. Tera understands how important agriculture is and knows that we need to take of our land, now, so many generations to come will have food to eat. Tera has a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness. Originally thinking she would find a career in the cattle industry, when she found out about Vermillion Growers, she needed to be part of the team.

“My education was built around the fact that we as farmers need to be more sustainable while continuing to feed the world. Vermillion Growers talked to both my education and passion for agriculture. I am so glad to be part of the team!”

Cormac Foster

Cormac Foster was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba and graduated as a Biosystems Engineer with a specialization in Environmental Engineering. He completed his degree at the University of Manitoba while also working as a carpenter and site supervisor on commercial construction sites and a supervisor in the retail industry. Prior to his work at Vermillion Growers, Cormac has worked as the supervisor in the retail industry. Prior to his work at Vermillion Growers, Cormac has worked as the production greenhouse facility, as well as conducted ground-breaking type II diabetes research at the John Buhler Research Centre. In addition to his technical background, Cormac has spent time as a motivational speaker, giving presentations to a wide range of audiences of up to 200 people on many different platforms based on his experience as a contestant of “The Amazing Race Canada”.

Now working as the Project Engineer for Vermillion Growers, Cormac has the opportunity to utilize strong communication skills along with his technical engineering background to manage the design and construction aspects of the project.

OUR TEAM

MARK KOHAN

Tap for Bio

Mark is a developer and well respected property owner in the town of Dauphin, Manitoba. Growing up in rural Manitoba he has learned the work ethic necessary to be successful in business as well as his personal life.

Having an education in Business Administration he used his knowledge to develop strategies for working with groups of investors in the development of subdivisions of land, condos and commercial properties. His comprehensive understanding of money and people management have allowed him to earn the trust and respect of bankers, investors and community members.

Over the past 15 years Mark has raised and managed over 35 Million dollars in funding making him an invaluable asset to any team. With a recent introduction to the commercial greenhouse world he has been invited to participate in the funding and financial management of the Vermillion Grower’s facility in Dauphin.

MARIA DESCHAUER

Tap for Bio

Maria has been involved with property development and management for over 20 years. She is currently the President of Wilisco Properties, a property development company that manages a 14 million dollar real estate portfolio. The majority of this portfolio consists of residential rental and is located in Dauphin, Morris and Altona MB.

International experiences have played a significant role in shaping Maria’s world paradigm. She spent several years living and working in Yamagata Japan, Barcelona Spain and London England. All these experiences have instilled a deep appreciation of the wealth and freedom available to all in Canada. It is this appreciation coupled with the desire to be actively contributing to Canada’s economic growth that has inspired Maria to be a part of the development team for Vermillion Growers

JOHN 'LUCKY' DESCHAUER

Tap for Bio

John is an entrepreneur/philanthropist who has spent the past 35 years in construction and property development. Dauphin, Manitoba became his home in 2013 when he began building residential rental apartments to help ease the housing demand in the community. As a master carpenter, he has mentored apprentices until his retirement recently from construction to spend full time on his greatest passion, Commercial greenhouses.

Growing up in rural southern Manitoba he was exposed to varying types of agriculture, spending time as a young man working on farms for experience. At the age of 15 he began building experimental greenhouses with his father including a 20 foot high glass greenhouse to grow vegetables in the winter. Since that time growing and providing healthy high quality produce for family and friends has been a burning ember in his soul. With recent improvements to hi tech greenhouses his passion has soared and now has committed all his time and resources to bringing the best team of greenhouse builders and growers together.

Tera Johnson

Tap for Bio

As the junior grower and crop scout at Vermillion Growers, Tera ensures the plants are getting what they need in order to produce the best yield and to ensure that the integrated pest management program is efficient. As she says, she takes care of the plants and bugs in the facility.

Agriculture has always been her passion. She grew up on a beef cattle farm in Chatfield, MB, with 400 head of cattle. Tera understands how important agriculture is and knows that we need to take of our land, now, so many generations to come will have food to eat. Tera has a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness. Originally thinking she would find a career in the cattle industry, when she found out about Vermillion Growers, she needed to be part of the team.

“My education was built around the fact that we as farmers need to be more sustainable while continuing to feed the world. Vermillion Growers talked to both my education and passion for agriculture. I am so glad to be part of the team!”

Cormac Foster

Tap for Bio

Cormac Foster was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba and graduated as a Biosystems Engineer with a specialization in Environmental Engineering. He completed his degree at the University of Manitoba while also working as a carpenter and site supervisor on commercial construction sites and a supervisor in the retail industry. Prior to his work at Vermillion Growers, Cormac has worked as the supervisor in the retail industry. Prior to his work at Vermillion Growers, Cormac has worked as the production greenhouse facility, as well as conducted ground-breaking type II diabetes research at the John Buhler Research Centre. In addition to his technical background, Cormac has spent time as a motivational speaker, giving presentations to a wide range of audiences of up to 200 people on many different platforms based on his experience as a contestant of “The Amazing Race Canada”.

Now working as the Project Engineer for Vermillion Growers, Cormac has the opportunity to utilize strong communication skills along with his technical engineering background to manage the design and construction aspects of the project.